Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a method for producing 2-D recordings and 3-D recordings of a breast of a patient using an x-ray apparatus of the type that is operable in two recording modes and that has an x-ray radiation source and an x-ray radiation detector, wherein the breast is placed between the x-ray radiation source and the x-ray radiation detector, wherein the 2-D recordings and the 3-D recordings are generated with the same breast placement.
Moreover, the invention concerns an x-ray apparatus that is operable in two recording modes, designed for producing 2-D recordings and 3-D recordings of a breast of a patient, of the type having an x-ray radiation source and an x-ray radiation detector, wherein the breast is placeable between the x-ray radiation source and the x-ray radiation detector, wherein the 2-D recordings and 3-D recordings are producible with the same breast placement.
Description of the Prior Art
X-ray devices for performing tomosynthesis scans for producing 3-D slice images of the human breast are known. These devices are used predominantly in the field of diagnostics. By contrast, for screening, however, it is still predominantly 2-D mammography recordings that are generated by appropriately designed mammography x-ray devices. It is also known to calculate a synthetic mammogram from a tomosynthesis scan, but this is not considered to be a full-fledged equivalent to a conventional mammogram.
X-ray devices, with which it is possible to produce both 3-D tomosynthesis recordings and 2-D mammography recordings, are also known, particularly for enabling a simple comparison with previous recordings. An advantage of these combined tomosynthesis devices is that it is possible to produce both the mammogram and the tomosynthesis scan with the same position of the breast, i.e., with an identical compression of the breast.
It is well known that, during digital mammography, the radiation emanating from the x-ray radiation source is incident on the breast as the object to be irradiated and is subsequently incident on the x-ray radiation detector. Here, a distinction is made between the primary radiation, which supplies the information that is decisive for the x-ray image, and the scattered radiation. The scattered radiation causes more image noise and reduces the quality of the image contrast and hence also the image quality. In order to remedy this, mammography devices are equipped with anti-scatter grids. These are attached between the breast and the x-ray radiation detector and absorb the scattered radiation, but simultaneously also absorb some of the decisive primary radiation. Consequently, the organ dose must be adapted accordingly in order to obtain the desired image quality. For the patient, this means an additional radiation exposure.
The problem of the dose being increased by the use of an anti-scatter-grid also exists in the multimode x-ray devices known in the prior art because, in that case, an anti-scatter grid is also situated in the beam path in order to absorb the scattered radiation when producing the mammogram. In order nevertheless to achieve the desired image quality, a higher radiation exposure has therefore always been required in multimode x-ray devices.